New Wizard Of Oz IMAX 3D trailer

In September, for better or worse, we get our second 3D trip to Oz for the year. Warner Brothers and IMAX have teamed up to re-release The Wizard of Oz in post-converted 3D for a limited one week release. It's hard to know how big an audience there is for this type of retrospective; Jurassic Park and Titanic 3D re-releases have been doing fine business at the box-office, but no-one's attempted a post-conversion job on a classic this old. In fact, most kids' grandparents weren't even born when Wizard Of Oz was originally released, so if there's a nostalgia ticket to be sold then it's likely on the basis of a VHS copy or TV re-runs! For many, it will be the first time they've seen Dorothy's ruby slippers on the big screen. Check out the trailer for an insight into how Warners are pitching their marketing:

With its school-choir revision of Somewhere Over The Rainbow, it would appear Warner Brothers are borrowing a play from the The Social Network's marketing play-book. It's no mistake that they've done this. Both trailers capitalise on a 'global' feeling of connection to the material, and they work hard to captivate as many generations as they can. Whatever your original connections are to the source material though, it's hard to avoid the feeling this trailer was whipped together on-the-cheap, with trite fonts in front of stock footage backgrounds feeling all a little 'straight to video'.

Of course, the impact of this trailer is dramatically reduced in 2D. It's easy to imagine that this footage pops off the screen in an IMAX theatre. The trailer labours how expansive the film's backgrounds feel (most were achieved with the help of some stunning matte paintings) and how vivid the Technicolor is. If the 3D post-conversion has been handled tastefully, we think the Wizard Of Oz re-release could look better than some of the other 3D product being shifted around multiplexes this year. What do you think? Are you tired of these re-releases, or do you relish the opportunity to see a beloved classic on the big screen again?